Remission or cure?

Options
cycle-path
cycle-path Member Posts: 1,502
edited June 2014 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)

Someone asked me yesterday if I am "in remission" and it made me start thinking. Which is it, remission or cure?

As you can see from my sig, I had a case of small and pure DCIS. I've had lumpectomy and radiation, and it's assumed that the cancer is completely gone. My assumption is that once you've had DCIS you are at greater risk for a new case of DCIS -- you have a genetic or environmentally-influenced tendency toward DCIS, and you have to take appropriate precautions and stay vigilant even though the previously-detected cancer has been removed.

So is a person such as myself in remission, or cured?

I realize this is a semantic detail but I wanted to hear what others think about it. 

· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • steelrose
    steelrose Member Posts: 3,798
    edited April 2011

    I was in dire straits so the term "remission" is appropriate in my case. NED is the term frequently used (NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE). With an emphasis on the "no EVIDENCE of..." There is no "cure" for cancer at this point in time.

    Rose. 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • IronJawedBCAngel
    IronJawedBCAngel Member Posts: 470
    edited April 2011

    Some doctors do use the term "cured", especially in very early stage breast cancer.  However, my doctors do not use that word.  I travel in the company of NED, but I am happy to share him with you!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • VickiSam
    VickiSam Member Posts: 407
    edited April 2011

    I, too, am walking/dancing or traveling with NED ..  'No Evidence of Disease' (cancer), as my Breast Cancer Specialist, and Oncologist reference.

    Vicki Sam

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • cycle-path
    cycle-path Member Posts: 1,502
    edited April 2011

    I agree that remission is a good term for someone like steelrose. And while I agree with the concept of NED, it's not a term most laypeople are familiar with. I explained my situation to my friend yesterday, without using the term NED but describing it, and her response was, "So are you in remission?"

    What most people understand is remission or cure. They don't understand NED. 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • xtine
    xtine Member Posts: 131
    edited April 2011

    DCIS is considered "curable" by many doctors - that's what I was told by mine. However, there is a small chance that you aren't actually cured even if they think you are - that some cancer cells escaped and will cause a remission. What I say to people: "they think I'm cured". More optimistic than remission, but I make sure I qualify it ;).

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Snobird
    Snobird Member Posts: 593
    edited April 2011

    I went from DCIS, and IDC stage 1a after my first diagnosis and treatment in 2007 to Pagets Disease stage 0 after my recurrance and treatment in 2010. First case treatment was LX and RADS recurrance treatment was BMX/DIEP. Had clear bone scan and CT scan and no nodal involvement. I wouldn't say I was cured but I will say that I am NED or remission as there are no guarantees that it will not raise it's ugly head somewhere down the road. My oncologist has indicated to me that I have a very high rate of beating this disease and I have done what was necessary the second time around but there is no 100% cured at this time. I will be vigilant the rest of my life (planning on being a long one)

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • gunner
    gunner Member Posts: 80
    edited April 2011

    Hi:  I had a simple case of DCIS in 05 then had lump plus rads, five years later DCIS shows up and after ml lovely simple skin mastectomy they found a small Stage 1 no chemo needed, now I am on Tamoxifen for 5 years. U play the game it is a day to day game.  There is no cureit is a chronic condition. After 3 months of disability for the mastectomp pure hell with tissue expanders I am left with a slightly rippled breast.  The whole thing sucks.  Good luck oh and I am going for my 6 month checkup which i need a MRI now.  

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • cycle-path
    cycle-path Member Posts: 1,502
    edited April 2011

    "there is a small chance...that some cancer cells escaped and will cause a remission."

    There are two kinds of situations in which one can get DCIS after having it previously. One is if some cells escaped, as you say, but the other is a completely new occurance -- either in the same breast or in the other.  

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • sweatyspice
    sweatyspice Member Posts: 922
    edited April 2011

    I have a hard time considering myself "in remission" from a noninvasive cancer.  Then again, I also have a hard time thinking that I'm "cured."  If I was forced to choose between the two, I'd pick "cured." 

    But....usually I say that at this point I'm just as healthy as anyone else, but I have a greater chance of developing bc in the future than the average woman. 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mom3band1g
    mom3band1g Member Posts: 817
    edited April 2011

    I always say 'cured' but I've also always been in a bit of denial about the whole thing.  I do think DCIS is the only bc that you can say 'cured' with

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • CTMOM1234
    CTMOM1234 Member Posts: 633
    edited April 2011

    At our initial meeting, maybe my bs was just trying to ease my anxiety but I distinctively remember him stating that DCIS is the only bc that is considered curable. He's the head of the bc center, so his words meant/mean a lot to me.

    And I sadly remembered those intended-to-comfort-words when my final lump. pathology report showed  a micro-invasive mm and thus a bump up to stage 1a. Although just symantics, cure sure feels like a better state to live in than remission.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • cycle-path
    cycle-path Member Posts: 1,502
    edited April 2011

    My BS has also said I was "cured" but I've been a little uncomfortable with that. It seems to me it's a little less than cured but a little more than in remission. NED is, of course, a better term but as I've said most people don't understand that. 

    That being said, I googled "DCIS" and "cureable" and found several articles that say that DCIS is indeed curable. 

    http://surgery.med.nyu.edu/oncology/patient-care/breast-cancer/carcinoma-in-situ 

    http://www.healthsearches.org/Categories_of_Q&A/Diagnosis/1253.php 

    http://www.dana-farber.org/res/research/dcis-questions-and-answers.html 

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16210921 

    And some others. 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • bdavis
    bdavis Member Posts: 6,201
    edited April 2011

    My MO said before chemo there was an 80% chance I was CURED after my lumpectomy... and the chemo would increase those odds..... so I like the word cured, even though I don't know if I am am.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories